FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Final: Harkrishan Wadia quickest as seven Indians advance into Stage 2

Bengaluru, October 11: As many as seven Indian drivers qualified for the Stage-2 of the FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Finals following preliminary runs at the Madras International Circuit in Irungattukottai, near Chennai.

As per a media release, in all, 25 competitors advanced to the next round.

Delhi's 24-year old Harkrishan Wadia was the quickest among the Indian qualifiers, clocking a best lap of 49.40sec over a 900M tarmac course in his second run which was an improvement over 49.90 that he did in the first timed outing.

FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Final: 16 Indians in the fray FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Final: 16 Indians in the fray

The seven Indians, out of 16 home aspirants, who advanced to Stage-2 are-- Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi), Jasmehar Jubbal (Faridabad), Jeremy Miller (Bengaluru), Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi), Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru), Pragati Gowda (Bengaluru) and Vedant Jouhari (Bengaluru).

Long way to go

"Of course, I'm happy to progress to the next stage, but there's still a long way to go. I'm also very pleased that seven from India made it to the next round," said an elated Wadia.

"For us Indians, it was our first experience in the Cross Car and so a steep learning curve. Now, we all are focussed on Stage-2 and I hope, most if not all of us make it to the last Stage," he added.

40 qualifiers

The 40 qualifiers form nine countries of the Asia-Pacific region were divided into seven groups, each given one recce run and two timed outings with the best timed lap taken into account for classification.

The top three from each group, along with four other fastest drivers across all groups, progressed to Stage-2 which will be run at the same venue on Tuesday (October 11) when 12 finalists for the Wednesday's (October 12) final round will be chosen based on their performance.

Tarmac configuration

Due to heavy overnight rains, the course was shifted from dirt to a tarmac configuration. On Tuesday, the course will be extended to 1,800M and 3kms for Wednesday, but all subject to the weather conditions.

The winners of the Asia-Pacific region will be announced on Wednesday, after all drivers have been interviewed by the four-member Jury which comprises, FIA Rally Director Andrew Wheatley (Chairman), Pernilla Solberg, Maciej Woda and Guy Botterill (Driver Advisor).

WRC feeder

The winner of the FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Final will represent the region in the 2023 FIA Rally Star Training Season. Besides six rallies in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally3, the Training Season package includes physical and intellectual assessment, driver coaching and testing. The aim is to equip the successful contestants with the attributes they need as they attempt to secure a drive in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in the future.

At the end of 2023, the best four FIA Rally Star Team members are rewarded with a season in the FIA Junior WRC Championship in 2024. For 2025, three drivers go forward into a second Junior WRC season. And if one of the FIA Rally Star Team members wins the title, they secure a WRC2 campaign in a Rally2 car for 2026 with a Rally1 drive their next target.